Ricki Tikki MacTavish
Back home for once, Soap brings Ghost over to his flat. A small visitor awaits them
Coming home is an exceptionally rare luxury. And an even more rare occurrence is Simon Riley actually having any time away from the field. Johnny wanted to seize his chance to get to know the other more. Plus, he knows Ghost has nowhere to go, so it was only right to invite him over to his place. Really, it was more of a plead than an invitation, as old habits rarely die with that man.
As they approach the apartment door, Soap pulls out a monstrosity of keys.
"How many fucking flats do you own?" Ghost states in astonishment.
"Just the one,'' Soap responds.
“Going to be here for ages trying to get into it.” Ghost states, rolling his eyes.
“Have a little faith.” Soap grins, almost magically flipping to the correct key with one cacophony of jingling, shaking it some more in triumph.
A little more jangling of keys, and Soap unlocks the apartment door, gesturing for Ghost to go ahead.
Ghost couldn't help but gawk upon entering. A few stains on the carpet notwithstanding, the place was downright pristine.
After tossing his bags by the door, Soap takes a look at his welcome guest.
"What? Never seen a clean flat before?" Soap teased.
"Well I certainly didn't expect one from you" Ghost retorted.
"Think I got the name by being filthy?"
"Oh I know where you got the name, slippery bastard" Ghost lets out a guffaw then picks up the shorter Scot, scooping him up in a hug. This knocks the air out of Soap a bit, and gets him blushing.
"Easy with the goods!" he laughs.
"That was easy"
Their banter is cut short, as there was someone else in the apartment. Ghost puts down his friend, and turns around. A small, fluffy tabby cat has made its presence known. The cat is quite loud, and continues to meow until Soap leans over to acknowledge her. He immediately melts at the sight of his beloved cat, scooping her up in his arms.
"Ricki! Oooh I've missed the hell out of you! My wee lady hold down the fort alright? Not give Ms. Darcy any trouble, did ya?"
Ghost watches as Soap devolves into a babbling Scottish mess at this cat. He lets out a chuckle, almost endeared at the display. "Didn't tell me you had a missus."
"Ah Ms. Darcy's just my landlord. Takes care of Ricki when I’m gone," says Soap.
"I mean the cat, MacTavish."
Snapping a bit out of his loving stupor, Soap tucks Ricki under his arm like a football. "This here's Ricki. My gran couldn't resist her face, but her allergies certainly could. So I took her in," He pauses to scritch the top of the cat's head with his other hand.
Ghost gives a genuine smile. His eyes go between Soap and Ricki, and raises his eyebrows at the man, clearly asking a question.
“Go ahead. Unlike me, she doesn’t bite.” Soap smirks, now holding Ricki like a baby.
Ghost almost seems apprehensive to pet the cat, not wanting to spook her. However as he moves his hand towards her, she pushes her face up to his hand, purring loudly.
“Aww, looks like you’re allowed to stay,” says Soap.
“Didn’t know there’d be a test,” Ghost replies contently, with much of his focus now on the purring cat. “Good to know you’ve got someone looking out for you off the job”
"Aye, really we look out for each other.” Soap beams, using one of his hands to now rub the cat’s belly. “Ricki canny hear a thing. Deaf as all, but fuckin’ loud as all too. Wouldn’t have her any other way”
Ricki takes a gentle swat at Soap's hand, shooting him a look. Ghost retracts his to avoid being included in getting hit.
“Guess the welcome party’s over” Ghost jokes.
Soap sets Ricki back down on the floor. She goes right back to meowing once on the floor, circling Soaps legs.
“I believe somebody’s hungry,” Soap states.
Once he has a briefly clear path, he begins walking toward the kitchen, Ricki weaving in and out between each stride. He opens up a cabinet, and looks back over at Ghost.
“Well come have a sit, Simon. You’re allowed inside more than 5 feet, you know.” Soap hollered.
Truthfully Simon was in a bit of a trance, never much of the social type and perfectly content just watching Johnny and his cat do their thing. Hearing his name definitely snapped him out of it though. He walks over to the large couch in the living room and sits, still watching the other man and the cat in the kitchen.
Johnny takes out a small bag of cat food, but looks down and notices her bowl is still full.
“Oh you cheeky shite!” he laughs, looking at the cat staring at him, bending over to scritch her head. She simply yells back.
“Fine, fine, a treat for my girl,” Johnny happily sighs, putting away the cat food and grabbing a smaller bag. He pours out a few treats into his hand, which prompts her to spring up onto the counter, somehow getting even louder.
Johnny waggles a finger in front of her like a dad. “Ah ah ah! You know the deal.” He then points downward.
Simon’s eyes widened. Upon this gesture, Ricki sits down, still looking up at Johnny and yelling of course. Johnny laughs and hands her a treat, placing the rest down on the counter for her, which she happily eats. He then walks over to the couch to join his guest, who is not at all hiding his surprise at what he just saw.
“You trained a cat.” Simon states in shock.
“Yep.” Johnny responds matter-of-factly, leaning back on the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table.
“And I’m the one outta my mind for drinking bourbon?” Simon laughs.
“Yeeep.” Johnny replies in the exact same tone. The two then catch each other's eyes, and exchange laughs. They both settle even deeper into the couch and let out content sighs, Johnny leaning his head back and shutting his eyes with a smile on his face.
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